


Living in Wayne Manor

by Chaerring



Category: DCU, Inception (2010)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Gotham, slight pregnancy fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-01
Updated: 2011-01-01
Packaged: 2017-10-27 07:59:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/293475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chaerring/pseuds/Chaerring
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ariadne figured she had better send a message to Arthur letting him know she was off the Wayne job.   Dick takes Ariadne home to meet his family and she finds herself learning more about Gotham than it's average resident.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Living in Wayne Manor

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with Inception or the DCU.

When Dick had said he wanted her to come with him to Gotham to meet his family, Ariadne hadn’t even hesitated to agree. The further they went through Gotham and the bigger the houses got though, she started wondering if she should have stayed back, or definitely at least told Arthur she couldn’t do that job on Bruce Wayne. It was seeming increasingly likely that Dick knew him...

****

“Welcome, Miss Ariadne, to Gotham’s Home for Wayward Boys, otherwise known as Wayne Manor.” Ariadne was jerked away from the architecture as the door opened and an older English man reminding her distinctly of Cobb’s father-in-law steps out. Dick swept forward to give him a quick hug.

“Ari, this is Alfred, Alfred you already know who she is obviously. Is Bruce around? I want them to meet so Ari can rest afterwards if she needs to.” Ari grimaced and patted her small, but noticeable five month baby belly. “It’s nice to meet you, Alfred.”

“And you as well Miss Ariadne. Master Bruce is in the library waiting for the two of you.”

****

Ariadne’s first impression of Bruce Wayne when she walks in the library is the one he wants her to have. He’s a personable billionaire, that obviously loves Dick as a son, even if he isn’t sure how to translate that to Dick himself.

Her second impression of him is the one she gets by observing the man like Eames and Arthur have taught her to. Bruce Wayne is fit, as fit as Dick, which suggests more than just body maintenance trips to the gym, not that she has been able to figure out what exactly Dick does, but she knows he’s not a gym bunny. He’s also entirely in control. It’s in the way Dick defers ever so subtly to him, in his stance, and in his firm handshake. Ari had been gathering the impression that Dick was hiding something from her, and it was practically screaming that the whole family was the instant she walked into the manor. Alfred, Dick, Bruce, they all had a secret that she wasn’t privileged to know, one that she probably wouldn’t ever be if the steely look in Wayne’s eye meant anything at all.

It’s an easy thing to send Arthur her quitting notice for their current job, and to warn him to do the same when she makes one of her frequent bathroom trips and convinces Dick not to hover too much.

****

Ariadne learns quickly over the next week that no one in Wayne Manor ever sleeps, and there’s an odd number of dark haired young men dashing about at all hours of the day and night, Dick included. She finds herself spending a lot of time with Alfred listening to stories about Dick’s upbringing and how awkward he and Bruce were sometimes. It was that or she wandered alone through the gardens or manor itself admiring the architecture and sketching. The longer she stayed the more she was sure there was something big they weren’t saying.

****

  
 **Authorization Blue:**  
Kitchen Surveillance File 539: 12:23am  
Accessed at 3:57am:

“Hey Alfred, how much should I worry about Dick?”

“I beg your pardon, Miss Ariadne. Why do you think you need to worry?”

“.....”

“Forgive me. That was rather insulting, wasn’t it?”

“It’s alright. You can make up for it with an answer that’s straighter than the usual one.”

“Fair enough, Miss Ariadne. On a general basis....you should worry no more than any woman who’s companion is not in bed at this time, but not for the usual things that a woman would worry for.”

“Oh I know Dick’s not cheating on me. Unless it’s with Bruce,

“Excu---”

“But I really don’t think that’s the case. Cheating isn’t Dick’s style at all. He’s too good for it.”

“Quite right.”

“You said on a general basis. How much should I worry on an unusual one?”

“It varies, I’m afraid, but you will be the first I inform if you need to worry more than a usual amount.”

“Alright, I’ll take these answers for now. Thanks, Alfred.”

“You’re welcome, Miss Ariadne. Would you like something to take back to bed with you?”

“No, thanks. God knows the squirt is messing with my schedule enough without me doing that myself. I’ll see you in the morning.”  
“Sleep well, Miss Ariadne.”

“You too, whenever you actually sleep.”

****

Ariadne would be the first to admit that pregnancy had made her a bit over cautious. It didn’t help that Dick, Alfred, and Bruce all fed her paranoia in subtle ways. The only person she ever really talked to face to face that didn’t was Tim, but that was probably because they never spoke for very long when he was always going somewhere. With her paranoia safely controlling her it was a whole month before Ari found herself restless enough to ask Alfred to drive her out when Dick wasn’t around to entertain and distract.

She didn’t want to go anywhere important, just to walk around some where that wasn’t Wayne Manor for while without Dick lurking over her shoulder. Alfred suggested one of the closer, better reputed malls and Ariadne agreed readily. The butler stayed close with her despite her protests as she went through a department store and onward to the books and art supply stores.

It was there in the bookstore that she finally found out why Eames had refused to work in Gotham when he heard Ariadne and Arthur had accepted a job there. The front page of the paper had a headline splashed across it.

 ** _ALL THREE BATS FOR THE FIFTH TIME THIS MONTH! HAS NIGHTWING RETURNED FOR GOOD?!_**

At a second look, Ari realized she was looking at a some Gotham version of the National Inquirer, but the headline intrigued her anyway and she bought it, toting it back to the car along with a few other small things and Alfred’s help.

She spent the rest of the afternoon in the manor googling backstories on the Batman and his hodge podge of companions, which included but was not limited to apparently three (or more) different Robins, a Nightwing, a Batgirl, and various other superheros from other cities.

Later, she’d laugh at herself for not catching Dick as he stopped short when she asked him what he thought of the Nightwing character she’d read about in the paper.

**Author's Note:**

> So this is a pretty ridiculous piece, but I'm fond of it anyway. I like the thought of Ariadne slowly but surely rooting out the secrets of the Batfamily.


End file.
